The big L ran the marathon in 2:59.
No, not Lance Armstrong. Yes, he did run the New York City marathon yesterday in 2 hours and 59 minutes, but I’m talking about my daughter L. Four years ago she ran a marathon in 2 hours and 59 minutes. I’m still in awe of her achievement.
After his debut marathon, Armstrong said, "That was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I've ever done. In 20 years of pro sports, endurance sports, from triathlons to cycling, all the Tours, even the worst days in the Tours, nothing was as hard as that, and nothing left me feeling the way I feel now in terms of just sheer fatigue and soreness.” And he had professional runners pacing him the whole way!
Natalie Morales of The Today Show, whose training blog I’ve been following, also ran the marathon, clocking a time of 3:31, her personal best. She beat my last month’s marathon time by 14 minutes—I figure she is about one minute faster for every year younger she is than I! I felt a kindred spirit connection to her when I read that she was a little disappointed at not making her goal time—which would have been just one minute faster! Ya gotta love competitive women.
The marathon, said New York City marathon race director Mary Wittenberg, "is the common man's Mount Everest. It's become more of a check-off-the-box thing, something that goal-oriented people want to achieve as they go through life."
I read that last year, approximately 153,000 women completed marathons. Once primarily considered a man’s race, apparently it has become the common woman’s Mount Everest too--although I wouldn’t call anyone who completes a marathon “common.” Congratulations to Lance and Natalie, and all the other runners who completed the 26.2 miles. And props again to you, L. You’re still my marathon idol!
Posted by Cyppy at 8:49 PM
